Up the Bhosporus - 9.9.06

After a lazy morning of lounging in the loungey area i went to the travel agent to try and book my flight out of here. Due to time constraints i don't really want to bus or train it as it takes too long and i do want to spend as much time in whatever place i go. After talking to Nikola the previous night and telling him that i was looking to go to Croatia next, he lamented that people never think of going to Serbia. He claimed that Belgrade was every much as exciting as Zagreb and many times as beautiful. So with that in mind i immediately said yes to the flight leaving next wednesday to Belgrade...oh and it was the cheapest one. Nikola then helped me figure out bus schedules to Dubrovnik and Split from Belgrade. He claimed he felt guilty for pressuring me to go to Belgrade and it was the least he could do...and by pressure if you mean mentioning his home country is spectacular then twist my arm!

At 1pm Mika, Brian (aka Red...something to with his last name and a super funny writer) and I (other dwellers at Hostel Bahaus) decided to jump on the ferry that would take us to Anadolu Kavagi. This is where the Bhosporus meets the black sea. There is a Genoese castle atop the hill which one can climb and admire the views. It was also a pleasant day and we were all in the mood for a boat ride.

The ride was enjoyable and it was interesting to see all the sites from the see. Istanbul is really an amazing place. So massive yet gorgeous and i just can't get over the all East meets West feel about the city. The houses along the river were absolutely amazing. Part Venice/part Key West (so said Mika who seems to have traveled everywhere and knows most everything but is not at all pretentious about it), they really seem to suggest that there is a huge amount of very wealthy people in Istanbul.

New Mosque

East and west

Once we got to Anadolu Kavagi we pretty much had 45 minutes to go up to the top of the hill and back before the next ferry left. If we missed it the next one wouldn't be until 7 which would get us back to the city at 8:30 which would mean i would miss the football game and that was certainly not on. After rushing up a steep, slippery dirt path/hill (we failed to notice there was actually a road) we got to the castle. The view was spectacular and my camera really couldn't do it justice (must break down and buy wide angle lens).

Bhosporus pouring into the Black Sea

Cat looking to pounce on something

We rushed back down, grabbing possibly the most tastiest calamari in garlic sauce sandwich i have ever had (actually its the only i've had but it was amazing). On the way back we struck up a conversation with an older gentleman who grew up in Turkey and has lived in London for the past 40 years. Turns out (or so he says) he used to play goalkeeper for Galatasaray in the mid to late 60's. Obviously this was before Galatasaray played in european competitions but i was still excited to meet a former football player. We basically talked footie the rest of the boat trip. He got me really excited to go the Fenebache game.

Former Galatasaray Goal Keeper